Fish & Fishing

We left the ecolodge on motorbike at 5:30 pm and rode for 1 hour in mountainous terrain to reach the reservoir. After I thought we arrived at the fishing village, it was another 20 minute walk. Tired. On the way, we met a villager who was hunting birds with a crossbow. This was my first clue of what I was about to experience. Think Amazonia once removed. When asked about the bathroom, they just said wherever. Clue 2. It's a good thing I didn't need any toilet paper!

After getting to the fishing village near dark, we discovered that some were already on the water. Bummer. Another 20 minute walk (downhill), aided by head lamps this time. Exhausted and hot. The goal was to catch our dinner using a net and I was successful. Now for the bad news, an uphill walk back to the village. To call this a route a trail would be dishonest - it was a slippery slope. Double sweat.



The villagers cooked our dinner. Ate about eight or after. It was delicious - fish and vegetables, leaves, rice, and other stuff which lacks proper translation in English. Banana wine to drink, which just goes to show that people can make alcohol out of anything. Either banana wine or water flowing down the hillside, so I chose option one. The village had electricity, but cooked on a open fire. Clue 3.












Dinner was over about 10:30 pm, so I wanted to take a shower before bed. I just stood on the bamboo bridge, butt naked, and rinsed off with ice-cold mountain water. It didn't take long. BTW, it was dark and only the frogs croaked about my presence. Ready for bed, so they gave me a fan, mosquito net, mattress, and something that looked like a brick for a pillow. We awoke at 4:00 am for more fishing. Not sure if I should call this a short or a long night, considering that I didn't sleep at all. Every barnyard animal was awake and never heard such a cacophony in all my life.













The villagers were already on the water at 4:00 am, so it must have been a simple misunderstanding. Now for the tricky part, walking that treacherous slope again. This time we only had two cellphone lights, and one of those was at 40% capacity. Do you realize how dark it is at 4:00 am? But we made it w/out accident and joined the fishers. They caught 32 kilos of bait fish, profiting $5 USD. Clue 4. Afterwards, we caught some freshwater shrimp and fed their pen-raised fish.

After walking back to the village (uphill), we readied for breakfast. Eggs, bamboo shoots, pumpkin, sticky rice with peanuts, and freshwater shrimp. Absolutely delicious, even the shrimp which we ate head-on and unpeeled - crunchy little devils! Taking a nap was the first order of business, but soon we returned to the ecolodge. A real shower never felt so good.

This was my most favorite experience in Vietnam. I learned some about fish and fishing, but more about friendship. The villagers treated me like a VIP, not only because I was the oldest, but also a teacher. I experienced a different lifestyle with admiration, not fear. I ate dinner and shook hands with people that I could not speak with, except through translation. Ironic that I wore my invasive fish shirt on this very day. I'm invasive, not them!